During each orientation at Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, new hires participate in a milkshake toast. No, the treat does not provide a sugar rush that fuels the recruits through the rest of their training. Instead, the drink symbolizes the restaurant group’s philosophy of going above and beyond for people.
In the early days of the Columbus, Ohio-based company, CEO and founder Cameron Mitchell took his 5-year-old son out to dinner and ordered him something that wasn’t on the menu: a chocolate milkshake. The restaurant said they couldn’t make the dessert, even though they had all the ingredients and tools to get the job done. Persistent, Mitchell got his son that milkshake, and he came back to his executive team with a key value of the brand: “The answer is yes. What is your question?”
But it doesn’t just apply to guests. “If someone asks us to do something, and it’s in our purview to do it, we do it,” says Chuck Davis, vice president of human resources for CMR’s more than 4,000 employees, who the brand strictly refers to as associates. If employees need a day off to go see the Elton John farewell tour, for instance, managers will do what they can to make that happen, Davis says. The strategy seems to help keep employees around, with hourly turnover at around 57%. Here’s how the 16-concept restaurant group retains top talent.